Automobile-wheel.



L. J. GRAHAM. AUTOMOBILE WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED MAY 2.o, 191x.

Patented Aug. 13, 1912.

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Witnesses sarnisergnnfr ernten.

LUTHER J'. GRAI-IAM, OF RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 ANANIAS HILL, F RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMOBILE-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

rfi-rented Aug. 13, 1912.

Application filed May 29, 1911. Serial No. 630,004.

To all whom it 'may concern.:I

e it known that l, Lurnna J. GRAHAM, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Richmond, in the county of Contra Costa and State of California, have invented a new and useful Automobile-lVheel, of which the following'is a specification.

This invention relates toautonmbilewheels land one of its objects is to provide a` spring wheel having a soft tread of rubber or the like whereby all of the advantages of an ordinary pneumatic tire are secured without the attendant disadvantages.4

Another object is to provide an automobile Wheel the parts of'which can be easily assembled and will not readily get. out of order, said .wheel being cheap to manufacture and being in every respect as efficient as an ordinary Wheel equipped with a pneumatic tire.

Another object is to provide a wheel of this type which can employ a solid tire of rubber or other suitable material, means be ing provided whereby this tire is held against `accidental displacement relative to the rim of the wheel.4

With the foregoing and other objects in 'View which will appear as'the Adescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being' understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made with'- in the scope of what'is claimed withoutde- F ig. 2 is an enlarged section on line A-B Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a section on line (iw-D 'Fig 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the spokes and of a portion of the Wheel rim.-

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates a hub which may be Each. of these heads'has the parallel contact-"- of any suitable material and which is pro vided, in its peripheral portion, With a plurality of openings 2 .adapted to receive screw threaded. stems 3 projecting vfrom, heads 4.

' ing ends of a spring strip 5 secured to-it in any preferred manner, each spring strip be- 4bolts'9 extend through them.

ing bent to form a loop constituting one of the spokes of the wheel and the crown or.

the heads of bolts 9, these bolts constituting means for attaching the intermediate or crown portions of the loops to the rim. If desired seat blocks 10 may be interposed between the intermediate portions 6 of the spokes and the rim, these blocks having concaved faces 1l constituting bearings for the spokes. Where these blocks are utilized, the

also extend through yokes 12 which straddle the intermediate portions G of the spokes, the blocks 10 and the rim 7 and the ends of the yokes project radiallybeyond the periphery of the rim and are adapted to lap the side faces of a tire 13 of rubber or other suitable material. This tire has a rounded tread portion while its sides are flat and its inner face is adapted to fit snuglyupon the rim 7 or upon an interposed layer 14 of canvas, felt or other cushioning material. It is to to be understood that one of these yokes 12 is provided for each of the spokes 5 and said yokes will therefore be sufficiently close to hold the tire 13 against lateral displacement relative to the rlm. however, the tire may be' cemented tothe rim.

Should it be desired to remove one of the spokes from the wheel, it is merely neces- Said bolts If preferred,

sary to unscrew the nut from bolt 9 and,

then remove the yoke 12 from the4 b olt.

The spoke can then be sprung 0H ofthe lbolt and rotated so as to unserew its stem 3 from the hub 1. Another spoke .can then be connected to the hub and placed invengagement with bolt 9 after which the yoke -12 can be replaced and secured.

It .will be apparent, that When-the wheel which has been described, is in use, it will lride easily over any rough or uneven sur- It will be apparent that a wheel such as.,I

loo

V jars produced by the movement ofthe'wheel ,over the surface., I.

"tion andwillnot readily get out of order.

Moreover any of the .parts caribe quickly replaced in the event of wearer breakage and Without requiring the services of a .A

skilled mechanic.

What is clain1edis:- l

A springwheel including a hub, a series of spokes, each spoke including a stem engaging Jthe huh and an elongatedlooped spring having its terminals secured to the stem, a rim extending; around the spokes2 a hearing block interposedv lbetween the rim and the crown portion of each spoke, ythat portion of the block contacted by the crownportion being concaved, means for securingy the crown portions ofthe springs and the;`

bearing blocks to-the jriizn', and yolres en tending through the loops and-straddling' to each other andfto' they rim, the terminals of the yoke vbeing extended radially beyond ythe rim .and constitutingjire retaining "meansl- In testimony that I claim the or eg0 ing'l .as myovvn,. l have hereto afxed my :signav ture' in the presence of tyvo vvvitnessesf 'Lerne-na GRAHAM,

Witnesises: y

FRED C. ScHRAMg; D.'liminaireoni' copies of this patent my be obtained fornire cents each, by addreseing theommissionefof 'Eatentsr Washington D. CJ- 

